This Could Be The Start Of Something
by Plesiosaur
Summary: Real World Bubbline AU. It's all Jake's fault, like always. All Marceline wanted to do was gate crash some fancy graduation ball at the hotel next door and score a couple of free drinks. But when the opportunity arises to be a hero and save a beautiful damsel in distress she just can't help herself. Teaser tiny fic for a longer story to follow.
1. Chapter 1

**I am a horrible person. And also a tease. So this is a teaser one shot to set the scene for a much longer real world AU I'm working on, which will be a lot less dark and significantly fluffier than anything else I've written in this particular pairing. Watch this space for the longer story to follow if you enjoy this one shot. Also definitely still taking challenge/prompt/request fics, send them!**

 **Content Warning: alcohol, anaphylaxis, bad language, sexism, mildly homophobic language and attitudes.**

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"How about the party next door? They're all in black tie, right? We could totally pass as graduates!"

Marceline cast a dubious glance at the small knot of students smoking outside the hotel lobby. Yeah they were dressed in black tie, all tuxedos and prom dresses. She'd have no problem passing as a swanky graduate at least; her floor length red ball gown wouldn't have looked out of place on a millionaire's yacht. Marcy believed in dressing for the job she wanted instead of the job she had and that meant performing like every grotty fifty-seat theatre was the Sydney Opera House. And there were a lot of people milling around the place, chances were good that whatever feeble security they had wouldn't notice a couple of gate crashers sneaking in with the press of new graduates. But she wavered, unsure if it was a good idea. If they got caught she wasn't sure if it might count as trespassing or something and she really didn't want to start her professional career with a criminal record. But Jake had already commandeered her arm and was tugging her towards the hotel entrance, following a knot of loud drunk guys in tuxedoes. He nodded importantly to the large burly bouncers as they passed through the door and they stepped into the middle of what appeared to be a very fancy ball. There was large professionally printed banner strung across the other side of the hall reading 'Congratulations MBBS Graduates!''

"Jake, what the hell is an MBBS?" Marceline hissed in his ear as they wandered towards the bar.

"Dunno. Some kinda university thing." he shrugged.

"Right? But what kinda university thing? It looks like a kind of degree but I've no idea what sort. You're an unqualified dirty dropout-"

"-fully qualified chef!"

"-whatever, and I'm an MMus. So what the hell is a MBBS? I feel like I recognise it but I can't place it. Like, we kinda need to know if we're gonna pretend to be graduating in it?"

"Master of Brilliant Bull Shit?" Jake suggested with a grin. "Look, it doesn't matter. They've got an open bar, go grab us some drinks and I'll raid the buffet."

"Fine." Marcy replied with an eye roll. "No garlic, remember? Unless you wanna wear that sexy tux to my funeral. I've got my EpiPen but I'd rather not have to use it."

"Duh, I know. No garlic for babygoth and no chocolate for dogboy. President and Treasurer of the I Fucking Hate Allergies Club right here. Do I look stupid?" Jake replied over his shoulder as he stumbled off in the direction of the food.

"Kinda, sometimes. Yeah." Marcy muttered at his retreating back.

She shrugged to herself; Jake knew how to handle her allergy to garlic every bit as well as she knew how to handle his allergy to cocoa. But he was prone to being forgetful and he'd already had more to drink than was advisable. They'd run out of booze at the post-concert party and been sent in search of more because Jake had drank the last of it. He was only even there because she'd needed a plus one and he hadn't had anything better to do that night. Looked like the rest of the orchestra were out of luck; no way they were leaving the swanky graduation party now that they'd managed to sneak in.

Marceline pushed her way to the crowded bar and was looking around for the serving staff when it happened. A loud and very drunken voice right next to her made her jump; for a second she thought they were addressing her.

"Give it up, sweet cheeks! You didn't even manage to bring some hairy queer freak along to watch you be an embarrassment to the profession. You know you don't wanna go home alone tonight, right? Me an' Baxter, we'll keep you _real_ warm. Ten minutes with us and you won't be a man-hating dyke anymore, babe. That's a guarantee."

Marcy was about to turn around and tell the drunk guys to fuck right off when a dangerously cold voice replied instead.

"Call me sweet cheeks again and I will twist your tiny shrivelled nuts off and wear them as earrings. _That's_ a guarantee. What's your problem anyway? Does it bother you that I could get more girls in one night than you two morons have even seen in your entire lives? GET YOUR GODDAMN HANDS OFF ME, BRACO!"

"JESUS CHRIST, SUGAR! YOU'RE GONNA BREAK MY FUCKING WRIST!"

It looked like the slender redhead girl in the pastel pink cocktail dress was bending an obviously very drunk guy's wrist into a direction human wrists weren't designed to bend in. He was yelping in pain and the security staff by the door were glancing at each other uncomfortably, clearly unsure whether they should intervene. Marcy made one of those split-second impulsive decisions that were frequently getting her into trouble and abandoned her place at the bar. She elbowed her way across to where the tall man was begging for mercy and slid in between him and the ( _omfg really cute!_ ) redhead.

"Hey babe, I thought we talked about not ripping people's hands off in public?" she drawled, sliding an arm around the surprised redhead's shoulders and hanging off her with her very best trophy-wife pout in place.

"You brought an actual lesbo date? Like, seriously?" the horse-faced guy standing behind his whimpering friend asked incredulously. The one the redhead had called Braco was holding his wrist and didn't speak apart from the odd quiet moan as he pressed on the bones gently. He seemed to be checking everything was still in place. The redhead girl just stared up at her rescuer in confusion; Marcy tipped her a wink and trailed one perfectly manicured finger down her cheek just because she totally could.

"Oh. Right, yeah. Um, sorry babe. We should go dance, or something. Well boys, my date and I are gonna go anyplace you two aren't. Feel free to keep each other warm all night instead, though."

Marceline took a moment to look over the girl she'd just rescued as they moved through the crowd together. She was slim and lithe, athletic looking with a twisting knot of light reddish-blonde hair piled on top of her head and eyes the same shade of blue as the summer sky. The girl shot Marcy a shy smile when she noticed her looking and yeah, she very suddenly decided she could definitely accept a dance with a girl like that. Marcy grabbed her unresisting hand and dragged her onto the dance floor. It wasn't until they were cheek to cheek with their arms carefully circling each other's waists and slowly revolving to some smooth love song with a crowd of other couples that the redhead spoke.

"Hey, thanks for the rescue. I could have handled them but it's always nice not to have to break someone's bones. Doctor...?"

 _Doctor? Shit. Medical Bachelor and Bachelor of Surgery. I do recognise it. Shit shit fuck shit. She thinks I'm a doctor._

"Doctor Haus. Pronounced like the TV doctor, only way hotter and with a sexy foreign spelling. Doctor Marceline Haus. That's me. Graduate doctor and rescuer of damsels in distress."

The redhead was staring at her like she was a bit crazy and when Marcy stopped to think about it that was a perfectly reasonable reaction.

"O-kay. Well, nice to meet you, Doctor Marceline Haus. I'm Bonnie. Doctor Bonnibel Sugar, as of about six hours ago. And I'm certainly not a damsel in distress but well done for trying. I actually teach self-defence classes when I get the odd free weekend; I could have kicked both their asses without spilling my cocktail."

"Wow, beautiful and talented and also a total badass. Must be my lucky night. But you did look a little distressed for a moment back there, just a tiny bit. And who says you were the damsel anyway? Perhaps I was rescuing that poor sweet boy trying to shove a polite compliment directly up your skirt whose hand you almost snapped off. He seemed to need all the help he could get. I'm honestly shocked that such a true gentleman wouldn't have a date of his own, unless Horse-Face is his boyfriend?" Marcy asked with her most charming smile firmly in place.

"Braco and Baxter in a gay relationship? Oh that'd explain _so much_. They've literally not stopped hassling me since freshers week. According to them I need to learn to take a compliment because I'm far too 'fuckable' to be queer and I must be in dire need of conversion." the redhead replied with an amused eye roll.

"Let me guess, their magical man meat is a cure-all for lesbianism?"

"Oh, so you have met them before then? Wait, have we met before? I don't think I've seen you in any of my electives. Which hospital did you do your juniors in?"

Marceline went from her relaxed charm offensive to nervous and panicky again instantaneously; she thought she'd managed to steer the conversation well away from her pretend doctor status. _Shit shit shit you gotta lie, think of a lie! Come on, think! You're usually so good at lying! Just ignore the fact that she's freaking gorgeous, lie your way out of it!_

"Abroad. I did my juniors abroad, overseas. With the Army. Um, I was in an Army hospital. In Baghdad. Yeah, I was out saving soldiers' lives. So you won't have seen me. Yeah?"

Marceline's brain did the mental equivalent of a sarcastic slow clap. The look the redhead was giving her was colder than chipped ice and really that was the least she deserved for such an obvious and ridiculous lie.

"Baghdad. You went to fucking _Baghdad_. How?" she all but hissed.

"Um, I had good grades?" Marcy replied hopefully, adding her most winsome smile to try and sweeten the stupid lie. Any second now the other girl was going to out her as not a doctor and she was going to get arrested for trespassing. And then her father was going to have to bail her out of jail and he was going to give her his most disappointed look and shake his head that way he did and-

"Just, typical! I applied to study abroad every year since enrolment and what do I get? A minor surgical elective in Munich for all of a month! And they let you spend an entire year in Baghdad? That's so much bullshit!"

"Um. If it's any consolation war is hell?" Marcy tried.

"If I hadn't already graduated I'd be putting in an official complaint, Haus! They can't get away with such blatant favouritism!"

"No, definitely not, favouritism is bad." Marceline nodded her bewildered agreement but the angry redhead continued to mutter under her breath and scowl right through what could have otherwise been a very pleasant slow dance.

"Marce! Where the hell did you go? Where are our drinks? Who's this? Hi. I'm Jake. I only brought enough nibbles for two, sorry."

Jake had shouldered his way onto the dance floor with two paper plates full of a selection of buffet foods. The redhead who'd briefly introduced herself as Dr Absolutely Gorgeous Something-Or-Other (Marceline had already forgotten) dropped her hands from Marcy's waist and nodded briefly to the dark haired girl.

"Well, I'll leave you to dance with your actual date. Thanks again for the well timed save, Haus."

And she turned and disappeared into the crowd, leaving Marcy to gape after her.

" _Dude_." she breathed to Jake. "She's _so_ hot. And she danced with me!"

"Yeah? And I noticed she angrily stalked away from you without giving you her number and called you 'Haus' for reasons I'm not even gonna ask about, mostly because I'm a little scared what the answer will be. So I guess you were too distracted by chicks to get us drinks?" the big guy replied with a long suffering sigh.

"Definitely. Sorry. She was getting hassled at the bar so I stepped in and pretended to be her mega hot lesbian date." Marcy replied, still scanning the crowd to see if she could spot the redhead.

Jake just sighed and shoved the plates of food at her.

"Wait here and watch the nibbles, I'll go get us drinks." he muttered with a shake of his head. "And try not to get distracted by breasts again. I know, they're warm and delicious and amazingly breast shaped and yeah I noticed her dress was just low cut enough without being trashy. But dammit Marcy, we need that free champagne!"

He shoved off towards the bar again and Marcy turned back to trying to spot Doctor Gorgeous in the shifting crowd. There! She was standing at the other end of the room, having what looked like a quiet argument with a girl with very long dark hair. Did she just argue with people for fun? Doctor Gorgeous snarled something and threw her hands in the air and then stalked off in the direction of the buffet table. The girl watched her go with a satisfied smirk on her face; looked like she'd won the argument. Marceline distractedly helped herself to a handful of the buffet food Jake had gotten for them, not ever bothering to look at what she was putting in her mouth much less taste it. Doctor Gorgeous was heading back her way but she stopped at the edge of the dance floor and took a couple of steadying breaths, obviously trying to regain her composure. Marcy just stood there in the middle of the dancing couples staring at her dreamily. Distantly she was aware that there was this fizzy warmth spreading through her chest, like a sort of swirling feeling that made her hyper aware of her skin and heart rate which seemed to be unexpectedly picking up. A half minute later Jake was back with two glasses of champagne and he was staring at her with a sort of weird expression on his face. Probably trying to be funny or something Marcy figured, but she was too busy being full of warmth and weird skipping feelings around her heart about that _amazing_ girl-

"What the fuck are you doing? Those are garlic mushrooms!" Jake gasped in absolute horror. "Marcy, what the hell? Shit, _shit_ , where's your EpiPen?"

"Huh?" she asked distractedly, looking around when her brain finally caught up with her ears. It seemed like her thoughts were moving extra slow and her heart felt weird, too full and kinda like it had developed a bad stutter. Wow, love at first sight was a real thing then? But then she looked down at the plates of food; Jake had obviously found a pen somewhere and scrawled 'Jake poison' on the one containing little squares of chocolate cake and 'Marcy poison' on the one with what she belatedly realised were indeed garlic mushrooms. And _shit_ , yeah, now she thought about it that tight feeling in her chest might not be love at first sight and might be something to do with her _lethal allergic reaction to garlic_ -

Jake was yelling for help as she dropped to her knees, hands flying to her dramatically swelling throat as she gasped for air. Marcy tried to indicate that her EpiPen was in her purse but her vision was starting to swim and she wasn't managing to get her words out properly around the tightness closing in her throat. The last thing she heard before she lost consciousness was someone shouting her name.

"What the hell are you doing, man? Where's her EpiPen?" one of the graduates yelled at Jake. He was fumbling with Marcy's purse and the adrenaline injection fell out and rolled away into the staring crowd.

"Someone call an ambulance!" a voice yelled from over by the bar.

"We're fucking _doctors_ , man!" someone else shouted in reply.

"Give her the fucking shot already!" a third voice joined in. Jake was on hands and knees now, scrabbling around on the floor and sobbing as he tried to pick up the injection with clumsy hands that shook badly. Someone else grabbed it before he could manage and he looked up; it was the cute girl Marcy had been dancing with a few minutes before.

"Out of the way." the redhead told him coldly. She strode over to where Marcy was lying in a wide circle of shocked graduates, pulled her dress right up to the waist (Marceline was gonna _kill him_ for making her unconsciously flash a room full of strangers, oh man she was wearing her lucky Batman panties, he was _dead_ ), and deftly stabbed Marcy in the top of her thigh with the EpiPen.

"Right, has anyone called an ambulance?" Doctor Awesome asked the onlookers. A couple of people muttered yes and she nodded, then bent back over Marcy as the adrenaline began to work.

"Haus? Haus. Can you hear me? It's Dr Sugar, you went into anaphylaxis and I administered your adrenaline shot. Hey, come on, wake up. The ambulance is on the way. Haus. Wake up!"

Marceline's face was swollen up like a balloon animal but it was beginning to go back down and her breathing was less desperate and wheezy than it had been before the adrenaline. Her eyes were beginning to flicker back open just a little as the paramedics shoved their way through the startled crowd. Jake was still sitting on the floor drunkenly crying and he barely even noticed Doctor Awesome And Gorgeous was following the stretcher they were wheeling his friend out on.

"Hey, come on bro. You look like you could use a drink, you've obviously had a shock. Sugar'll look after that chick, don't worry. She's a frigid stuck up cow but there's nobody better in an emergency." the horse-faced boy added.

It was one of the guys from the bar earlier, hauling Jake to his feet and pressing a foul smelling shot of something into his hands. Jake downed it immediately and yeah, he did feel just a little better.

...

"Do you know her name?"

"Haus. I don't remember her first name, we just met. Marianne or something, I think."

"Any idea on how to contact a next of kin?"

"No. Wait, maybe. She's military, I'm pretty certain. So maybe try Armed Forces records?"

"Date of birth? Approximate age?"

"Assuming she's an MBBS grad and wasn't there as someone's date? Approximately twenty two or twenty three, same as me."

"Any previous episodes like this? Any idea what brought on the anaphylaxis?"

"I don't know. She's not wearing a medi-alert bracelet but I'm pretty sure the adrenaline shot was hers so probably previous history. Peanuts or something, she was eating when it happened. Must have been something in the food. Egg or dairy, I couldn't do more than guess."

"Right, well we can take it from here, I'm sure you don't want to miss the rest of your ball."

"No it's ok. I'll come too if you don't mind? I want to talk to her some more when she comes around."

Marcy could hear voices. She was distantly aware that she was strapped down on some kind of stretcher and lifted into the back of a vehicle. _Ambulance_ , her drowsy brain supplied. _Garlic mushrooms._ Oh shit, she'd taken her allergy bracelet off for the concert; it was too distracting having it jangling around on her arm when she was trying to play.

She tried opening her eyes a couple of minutes later and was pleasantly surprised by how easy it was. They were still puffy but she could see out of them. Jake must have used her EpiPen. She turned her head, certain he was the one she could hear strapping themselves into the seat next to her as the ambulance pulled away. But when she squinted at the figure it wasn't Jake, it was the gorgeous doctor girl she'd danced with.

"..y'r here?" Marcy slurred around her still swollen tongue.

"Good morning to you too. Your boyfriend was too wasted and I figured he'd do more harm than good if he came along. Last I saw Baxter was pouring more tequila down his neck; excellent taste in men you have there."

"Roomies."

"What?"

"Jake. Me 'n him are roomies. Not m'boyfriend."

"You brought your roommate as your graduation date?"

Well she was already in the back of an ambulance looking like someone had tried to use a bicycle pump to inflate her face. How much worse could it get? Probably time to just come clean, Marcy figured.

"Nah, we gate crashed. M'not a doctor."

"I knew it! Why would you be at a civilian graduation if you were Armed Forces? Why would they let anyone with such a severe allergy join the military, even in a non-combat role?"

Marceline just shrugged, she hadn't thought it through. That wasn't exactly unusual, though.

"Wait, why are you dressed black tie then if you weren't supposed to be at the grad ball?" the redhead asked with a frown.

"Orchestra next door. Holst's Planets Suite, I'm cello. Double bass on Jupiter, too."

The redhead looked like someone had just shoved something that stank under her nose.

"You're a _musician?"_

"Mhm. Classical. 'N I sing."

"Typical. Just, _typical_. Is there anything about you that isn't a stupid lie?"

"My name really is Marceline." she tried hopefully.

"Marceline Haus?"

"No, Abadeer. Sorry."

The other girl didn't reply, just scowled again and stared away towards the darkened windows of the ambulance. Along with all the tight feelings still banding around her chest from the allergic reaction Marcy felt an intense stab of guilt. She hadn't meant to lie to anyone and she'd pretty clearly fucked up the other girl's graduation.

"Hey, I'm sorry." Marcy told her quietly. "It was Jake's idea, we were just gonna grab a couple of drinks. And then you were getting hassled and I decided to try to be a hero. Stupid of me. Just... I don't like homophobic cockholes and I wanted an excuse to dance with you."

The redhead looked like she was going to reply but the ambulance swayed to a stop and a second later the doors opened and the paramedics were wheeling Marceline out of the vehicle.

"Hey, that girl. What was her name? Did anyone get her name?" Marcy asked them as she was taken inside the accident and emergency department. But she was still quite drowsy and confused from the anaphylaxis and there was still poison garlic in her system and the adrenaline was wearing off. Despite the heavy ache of guilt she closed her eyes just for a second and woke up hours later on the ward.

Next morning as the doctor was frowning over her notes and telling her she could go home and not to be so stupid as to eat garlic or take her allergy alert bracelet off for anything there was a knock at the main door of her ward.

"Got a bunch of flowers here for a Marceline Aberdeen?" the bored looking delivery boy drawled around his gum.

"Must be for me. It's Abadeer, by the way." she corrected him. He shrugged.

"Says Aberdeen here. Sign the delivery record please, miss."

She did, and was handed a rather impressively massive bouquet of dark red roses with a small card nestled in the middle. She picked it up and flicked it open with a small frown, wondering how Jake had managed to pull off flowers when he was probably still lying half-drunk somewhere. But the handwriting inside the card was neat and loopy, not her roommate's untidy mess.

 _Marceline,_

 _I let your conductor know you were admitted last night and wouldn't be able to make tonight's performance. He said to tell you to get well soon and they're holding your cello for you behind the stage. It's my professional opinion that you're not going to be well enough to play music tonight but I would be failing in my duty as a doctor if I didn't ensure you ate a nutritious dinner to help regain your strength. Meet me outside the hotel from last night at seven; you're paying. If you stand me up I'll have no option but to call Braco and admit I completely failed to arrange a date after all and then you'd need to come rescue me again anyway. So probably best you just come along. Like, as a date? Look, I suck at talking to attractive women. Just, let me know anyway._

 _Bonnie x_

There was a phone number beneath the elegant signature. Marcy grinned happily to herself and grabbed her mobile from where it was stashed on the night stand next to her hospital bed, sending a quick thank you text for the roses and a confirmation that she'd be there at seven. Then she called Jake and woke him up, let him know she was still alive and had a date that night with the most amazing person she'd ever met. She had a good feeling, like it could be the start of something awesome.


	2. Chapter 2

**It was supposed to be a one shot, it was! But then this happened. Not even gonna apologise, I highly doubt anyone will be like 'oh no Plesi we're angry and hurt that you wrote another chapter for this'. I just had a bit more scene setting to do for the longer story. Its working title so far is '40 Weeks' and it's set about eight years after the end of this fic, maybe that will give you a tiny bit of a clue what it'll be about?**

 **To the anon who asked if I have a Tumblr; I do now! I've not used Tumblr very much so I'm not entirely sure what I'm doing with it, but my username is pplleessiioosaauur (I'm so original). So feel free to hit me with requests and stuff there, or just PM me here, or leave it it a review. Whatever's easiest ^^**

 **Content Warning: bad language, female nudity, a bit of backstory and yes some not terribly explicit sexing. Not even sorry.**

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"So a garlic allergy is pretty damn rare. A severe reaction to cocoa is even rarer, I've never seen it before. Never even heard of it although I guess you could develop an allergy to pretty much anything. Did you guys meet at a drug trial or something?"

"Nope, it was just a weird coincidence, we were in the same art class. We played in the college orchestra together too when we were teeny tiny teens. Jake might look like a bull mastiff trying to pass for a human but he's actually wicked good on the viola and secretly very into classical music. We've been best friends since I was sixteen. He was terrified of me at first though, everyone kinda was. I was an angry teenaged Goth and you know with the whole garlic thing and not liking being up before sunset there was this stupid rumour going around that I was actually a vampire."

"I could see that actually. I bet you looked kinda awesome in Goth make up though." Bonnie replied with a smile.

"Yeah I looked pretty awesome. I guess I understand why dumb kids thought I was a vampire. A lot of them thought I was just making up my allergy for attention. I'd love to say that Jake's clever enough not to listen to crap like that but yeah, I had to stand outside under full sun holding a crucifix to prove to him I'm human. And then one time he had the amazingly clever idea of eating chocolate to win a bet with one of his equally bright friends and he didn't realise until afterwards that he'd left his EpiPen at home. So I stabbed him in the leg with mine, right through his trousers. Saved his life; I'm not always stupid about allergies, you just caught me at a bad moment. And we've been friends ever since. He gets mistaken for my boyfriend a lot; you've gotta admit that's pretty funny since I'm gay and he's a little terrified of me still."

Bonnie smiled and took another sip of her wine; she could have sat and listened to her date's stories all night. But that wasn't completely what she had planned. They'd gone for dinner at a nice Italian restaurant the weekend previously where the staff had all recognised Marceline and the chef had brought her food himself with the personal guarantee that it contained no garlic. Then the next weekend had been ice skating at the temporary ice rink in the park followed by some bad horror movie followed by a clandestine, breathless and entirely spontaneous make out session in the back of the cinema. And now they were having dinner at Marcy's apartment and Jake had been firmly told to go stay with his brother for the night. So as funny and entertaining as Marcy's stories were Bonnie was full of nervous anticipation, wondering exactly what was expected of her and if anything was expected of her at all and if maybe Marcy owned more than one pair of DC Comics underwear. Third date. But that didn't have to mean what it always meant on TV, right? Did it?

"How about you? Any hilarious medical stories to share?" Marcy asked her with a smile.

"Only about a million of them. I did some of my juniors in the accident and emergency department they took you into the night we met so I know most of the staff there. We've seen some pretty amazing stuff, stuff you wouldn't believe. There was this one guy with a potato stuck in a place you really would never think to put a potato. He told me this long story about how he'd been naked in the kitchen making dinner and he slipped and fell on it and it must have just slid right in, because that could totally happen."

Marceline had just taken a sip of her own wine and almost choked; Bonnie politely slapped her on the back until she could breath properly again.

"A potato? What the fuck? Up his-?"

"Yep. Stuck right up there. Like, so far up the surgical team were pretty sure he'd shoved something else in afterwards too. And it wasn't a tiny potato either; it was like the size of a small fist. We had to put him under and go in with a pair of surgical forceps to get it out again and he needed internal stitches to repair the damage he'd caused by ramming it up there."

"Sounds like something that could have happened in my boarding school." Marcy nodded sagely. "People were always doing crazy shit."

"You went to boarding school?"

Marcy shrugged a little uncomfortably.

"It's a long and not terribly fun story." she explained. "I don't wanna bring you down."

"Hey, you don't need to worry about that. But you don't have to talk about it either if you don't wanna."

Marcy shrugged again; she was well past the point where it hurt her to talk about it anymore.

"Well when I was a kid my Mum got cancer. I didn't know what was wrong with her, I was too little. But she started being sick a lot and one day all her hair was gone and stuff. Then a while later she was gone too. I found out later that when they told her the chemo hadn't worked and it was terminal she'd left my Dad and gone to spend her last months in some yoga retreat in India. We didn't know she'd died until weeks and weeks afterwards. They'd already cremated her and put her ashes in the Ganges. She was kinda an old fashioned hippie like that, it was what she wanted. And Daddy tried for my sake but he just couldn't cope, he had a break down and I ended up being fostered because he didn't feel capable of looking after me like I needed. I was twelve by the time I went back to live with him and by then we'd kinda grown apart. So he sent me to boarding school instead, I think he thought it would be a more stable environment for me. I spent most of my holidays with my foster parents anyway and only saw my father for dinner maybe once every holiday. We're getting on better now I've grown up a little, for a while in my teens I really hated him. But he was doing the best he could, he'd lost his wife and he suddenly had to parent this grieving seven year old girl on top of his own grief. It was too much for him. Anyway the best thing was my foster father Simon taught me to play a ton of instruments. So when I got to school I was immediately put in the orchestra and choir and because it was an exclusive private school I got some of the best orchestral tutors in the country. Silver linings, you know?"

Bonnie nodded sympathetically. She knew it was hard for people who'd been through loss to talk about it and appreciated that Marcy trusted her enough to share it with her.

"But when you say a ton of instruments do you mean like the cello and double bass? Or more than that?" she asked instead.

Marceline grinned, suddenly impish and mischievous again.

"Come on, I can show you. Best thing about my Dad is that he's richer than a pirate king so when I got accepted to university he bought me this whole apartment. Jake only lives here because I wanted a roommate, it'd be kinda lonely otherwise. But I wanted a music room too. So Daddy bought me a three bedroom and we had the biggest room converted into a practise studio for me. Daddy doesn't have a musical bone in his body but he's ridiculously proud of me anyway."

She put her glass down and pulled Bonnie to her feet, leading her from the cosy lounge down the hall to a closed door. When she opened it with a flourish and grin the redhead felt her eyes widen in shock.

"You can play _all_ of these?" Bonnie breathed, amazed.

"Yep. Let me see now, the piano was my first love, and then the guitar. Mum started teaching me those when I was really little, before she got sick. And then just for fun I learned the banjo with Simon and after that the bass guitar because my hands had grown a bit and he told me if I played bass I'd have my pick of bands. Simon was right; I've played bass in everything from death metal to folk bands. Violin and viola were my gateway drugs into classical when I was at school and after that it was logical to pick up cello and double bass too. When I was seventeen Jake and his little brother Finn bet me I couldn't learn to play the harp so of course that happened just to spite them. And just recently I decided I wanted to get a bit more in touch with my roots and I bought a traditional sitar. Still practising with it but I'm enjoying it a lot. I wrote and performed a fusion piece with the harp and cello for my masters degree and I'm into my second year of a doctorate in classical music and orchestral performance art starting again in September. My tutors are kinda excited; they seem to think I'm some kinda prodigy. I just, music is easy for me. It's like, patterns and stuff. I love to find the patterns and see how they fit together. My job is really just like messing around, I've never worked a day in my life since I took up music as a career. I sing too, done a bit of opera here and there but mostly rock and pop stuff just for the love of it."

"How do you even learn the sitar? Or the harp? Where do you even begin?" Bonnie asked, awe struck.

"Well I began by picking up the phone and saying 'Daddy I want a harp for my birthday this year' and after that I just googled harp tutors. Youtube helped too, you'd be amazed what you can learn from just watching free videos. Same with the sitar, only that was a Christmas present. I'm on first name terms with the delivery guys from the specialist music shop in town." Marceline shrugged. "I can show you if you like. I've had a couple of drinks though so maybe in the morning? They always told us in orchestra not to drink and harmonize and if I'm going to play I'd rather be as focussed as possible."

"In the morning?" Bonnie prompted, filled with nervous anticipation again. "Are you asking me to stay the night?"

Marcy flushed and looked away.

"I mean, if you want? It's already getting a bit late. I just, I thought you might like to? Not in a pervy way! I mean, like I can totally just roll out onto the sofa and you can take my room, or I'll go crash in Jake's bed since he won't be back tonight. I don't want you to think I expect anything, like, you don't owe me anything just for cooking you dinner and stuff. I-"

She was cut off by a warm hand taking hold of her chin and turning her face back towards her date. Then without warning soft sweet lips were on her own and those same hands were tangling in her hair and pulling her closer, deepening the kiss. And yes ok she hadn't expected anything but she had hoped for it; Marcy felt like her chest was getting tight again and this time it was definitely not an allergic reaction. She was backed up against the opposite wall, knees weak and heart hammering, hands sliding under Bonnie's shirt and finding all kinds of places that were warm and delicious and definitely not innocent as they continued to kiss and press close together. There were hands fiddling with the buttons on her shirt and a second later the cool touch of a breeze against the exposed skin of her chest and stomach as the shirt slid down to pool around her elbows. She shrugged it of and let it fall to the floor, not caring in the least that it was right in the hall and her eagle eyed roommate would definitely know how it had gotten there when he found it next morning.

"Bedroom." Bonnie murmured against her wiling lips after a few dizzying, breathless minutes. "In case Jake does come home unexpectedly."

Marcy let herself be lead back through the lounge and into her own room, still dazed and weak from the amazing kissing. This time it wasn't anaphylaxis that made it a little hard to catch her breath; her heart felt like it might explode out of her chest and when Bonnie turned to smile at her in the doorway Marcy felt just a little like she might faint again. She took a seat on the edge of the bed and pulled the redhead down next to her a little nervously.

"Is this too fast for you? Do you just wanna, like, snuggle or something?" Bonnie asked her gently when she noticed how anxious the other girl was looking.

"No, no I really want to, you know. Just, would it sound stupid if I said I have performance nerves? You're just so fucking hot and I don't wanna disappoint you."

Bonnie burst out laughing.

"I'm not laughing at you! I just think it's so cute, like you're this absolutely amazing musician and you can play every instrument ever invented and you're nervous about getting intimate with me? It's just really sweet because I'd kinda expected you to be super confident and stuff. It's nice, it's a really sweet surprise that you're just as nervous as I am."

Marcy smiled a little, good to know she wasn't the only one who was nervous.

"Hey, but you can be honest with me. This isn't like, your first time or something is it?" Bonnie added gently.

"What? No! I don't date much and it's been a little while but I know my way around a naked female."

"Oh, in that case perhaps I should take my clothes off then." Bonnie replied with a delighted smile. Yeah, Marcy had really walked into that one, not that she minded.

"Suppose you better had." she murmured, leaning in and kissing her date gently again and letting her hands slide back up and under her shirt, carefully reclining them both until they were stretched out across her bed with legs intertwined and hands busy removing the rest of their clothing. And then she was far too busy to talk again, except for the odd murmured word like 'yes', 'there', 'harder' or 'please'.

And really when she thought about it afterwards that night was an education entirely by itself. Bonnie was a revelation; nothing like the girls she'd dated at school or college or the occasional drunken hook up during her undergrad years. She was intense and focussed and then also unexpectedly vulnerable too, constantly asking if Marcy was ok, if she was doing it right, if it was good. And every time Marcy had to focus to gasp out yes, better than ok, better than good. Perhaps it was the couple of glasses of wine they'd shared but the whole night took on a slightly unreal edge, like she was lost in a trance or something. Time seemed to slow and spiral away in unexpected loops; it slipped by in huge coils then focussed right down to a minute, thirty seconds, one crucial overpowering moment, a single gasped breath and aching heartbeat. To Marcy it felt like she was hyper aware of every tiny sensation; the feel of Bonnie's voice gently vibrating against her skin, the rush of blood in her veins and burn of a held breath in her lungs. It was like the redhead was learning her every bit as completely as she learned an instrument, finding her patterns and exploring the ways they fit together. Or perhaps that was the wine talking. Marceline had never considered herself a romantic or a poet before but looking into those intense blue eyes as they widened with a surge of euphoria she could understand why there was a difference between simply fucking somebody and being physically intimate with them. Probably the wine talking, she decided as they kissed and stroked through the quiet moments when the last gasps and moans had faded from the air. Or, it was a tiny bit possible that she'd just connected with someone on a deeper level than she ever had before. Just a little possible.

"Wow."

"Yeah."

"No, I mean like, _wow_."

"Yeah, I know."

"They teach you how to do that in med school? Cause you clearly have superior anatomical knowledge."

"I actually came top of my class for anatomy."

"I'm not surprised. Didn't realise that was what they taught you in practical classes though."

Bonnie laughed lightly and pressed a kiss against Marcy's cheek, rolling over so they were face to face and sliding a hand across the curve of her hip bone in sated fascination.

"You know this kinda means you have to be my girlfriend now, right?" Marcy asked her carefully. "Cause, like you're better than everyone I've ever met before rolled together. I don't mean just at sex either, I mean literally at everything. You're so smart I feel like a moron next to you, you're amazingly funny and practical and a total badass and I have a feeling a diehard feminist too?"

Bonnie nodded, grinning.

"Smash the patriarchy, sister."

"Yeah, that figures. But if I let you just go home tomorrow and I don't call you and we just leave it here I might actually be letting the single most amazing person I ever met walk out of my life and that would be a tragedy. I need to get to know you more, so I can find out if you have a single flaw of any kind."

"Well I sing like a beached whale, that's gotta be a pretty massive flaw since you're like some kinda hot lesbian Mozart or something, right? And I can't play any instruments, not a single one. Even my weird brother can play the harmonica. But I suck at everything musical. I played the keyboard a little when I was a kid but I always sucked at it. And I can't cook very well. I can bake, I love baking. But if it's not a cake then I can't make anything more interesting than spaghetti and sometimes that doesn't turn out right."

"Mm but I can let you off with that since you're amazing in literally every other possible way. Besides I like cooking, and Jake's a chef." Marcy replied with a contented sigh. "But I really mean it. I'm sure there's a subtle and much smoother way to ask but yeah, do you wanna like, do this officially? And sorta not see other people and post sickeningly cute pictures together all over our facebook and instagram accounts and stuff? I've got to be honest, I'm pretty damn short of breath for you."

"You're so sweet." Bonnie giggled, pressing another little kiss onto the tip of Marcy's nose. "Sure. Since you asked in such an adorably awkward way, yes I will be your girlfriend."

"Yes! Awesome!" Marcy grinned, punching the air in victory and making Bonnie laugh again. "Are you staying the night?"

"I've got a pair of fresh underwear and my toothbrush in my bag." the redhead admitted with a faint blush. "Just in case. Since you invited me to your actual apartment and everything."

…

"Hey, Marcy. Where are your coffee mugs?"

"…Whuh?"

"Never mind, I'll find them. Go back to sleep."

"Mm, 'kay."

Bonnie discovered next morning that as well as having been mistaken for a teenage vampire because of the garlic allergy Marceline also appeared to have something of an aversion to mornings. That was a bit of a shame, since they were Bonnie's favourite time of day. But she was more than content to grab a shower in the fancy bathroom and make them some breakfast coffee while her new girlfriend slept. In fact Marcy's bathroom was bigger than Bonnie's whole bedroom in her own tiny cramped apartment and it was full of a dizzying array of shampoo, conditioner, 'body masque' whatever that was and shower gels in more flavours than she'd previously known existed. There was also a neglected looking bar of plain soap and a bottle of 'for men' sport shampoo lying abandoned in the bottom of the large shower; she assumed those belonged to Jake. While Bonnie showered she heard movement in the hall outside and assumed Marceline was awake. So when she existed the bathroom in nothing but a towel and there was a tall blonde boy with a ponytail and scruffy soul patch beard standing in the kitchen drinking the coffee she'd just made her scream of surprise must have woken the entire building. Marceline came hurrying through from the bedroom wearing nothing but a bed sheet which she also hurriedly draped over Bonnie's shoulders too.

"FINN WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING HERE?" she yelled at the shocked boy.

"Jake wanted to come try out a recipe for almond pancakes, it's nearly midday!" he replied defensively. Jake stuck his head around the kitchen door, he must have been in his bedroom.

"Hey! Looks like someone got laid last night! Right, almond pancakes for four then?" he asked with a huge grin, coming into the kitchen and wrapping both girls in a bear hug. "Go put some clothes on and I'll get started. Looks like we'll have to give Finn the sex talk too, I know he's a bit young for it but he's bound to have questions now."

"Hey, fuck you, dude." Finn glowered at his big brother.

"No, see little man, you only fuck people who aren't members of your family. When two people like each other a lot they get these feelings where they want to take their clothes off and they do a thing called 'sex'-"

Finn carefully put his coffee down on the counter then launched himself at his brother. Marceline towed Bonnie from the kitchen, leaving them to their brotherly rough housing.

"So that's Jake's younger brother. Sorry, I should have warned you they'd be back today at some point."

"Woulda helped." Bonnie muttered around her blush. "I'm pretty sure he saw more of me than any guy has since my Mum stopped bathing me and my brother together as toddlers."

There was a crash and the sound of something smashing from the kitchen, followed by a yell of;

"OH AND JAKE 'MAD DOG' MADIGAN HAS HIM ON THE ROPES! WILL HE GO FOR THE CLOTHESLINE, WILL HE GO FOR THE TOMBSTONE? THE CROWD GO WILD!"

"Boys." Marcy sighed with a fond shake of her head. "It's a wonder they haven't killed each other before now."

"Am I gonna have to get used to those two being around a lot?" Bonnie asked her with a small smile as Marcy handed her a t-shirt to borrow since neither of them were sure where her own clothes had ended up.

"Pretty much, if you're ok with that. We're close, they're my best friends in the world."

"I'm sure they grow on you."

"Yep, like warts."

Bonnie laughed lightly and allowed herself to be wrapped back into a hug and thoroughly kissed again. So those guys were Marcy's best friends in the world? She would get to know them too, then. It might take a while to get used to how exuberant they were but Bonnie had all the time in the world; she wasn't planning on going anywhere any time soon. She looked over at her amazing new girlfriend with a soft smile on her lips as Marcy was shrugging on her own t-shirt. Yeah, Bonnie was staying for certain.


End file.
